


i'm empty like the promise you couldn't keep and hollow like the grave you couldn't fill with a body turned to ash

by ContrEeri



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 03:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16359656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ContrEeri/pseuds/ContrEeri
Summary: He never wants to hear the words "I promise" again.





	i'm empty like the promise you couldn't keep and hollow like the grave you couldn't fill with a body turned to ash

**Author's Note:**

> This was a super super old prompt thing I did on tumblr that I didn't get around to for like over a year. The prompt was "A promise" and you can find the original post [here](http://sagemoderocklee.tumblr.com/post/178773470223/21-gaalee).

_“I promise to protect you with my life.”_

Lee was a man of his word. 

He always had been. Gaara could count on one hand, with one single finger the amount of times Lee had lied. One singular lie in all of Lee’s twenty-five years, but not one promise ever broken. 

_“Do you love me?”_

_“More than I think it is possible for anyone to love anything.”_

Gaara had found that hard to believe. Lee was so full of love. It was tucked into every atom of his being, it was hidden in the corner of his mouth, it was sequestered away behind the dark of his eyes. Love was all that Lee was. 

_“Promise me something.”_

_“Anything.”_

_“Don’t leave me.”_

It was the first and only time Gaara could remember Lee hesitate to make a promise. He was always so quick to agree, so quick to even the most impossible of promises. Lee was an impossible man. An impossible, honest, loving man. And he’d swept Gaara up in his world, in the warmth and brilliance of his conviction and energy. 

Gaara had never wanted it to stop. 

_“Forever.”_

_“That’s a long time.”_

_“It is, but I could not imagine my life with anyone else. So, even if I die, I promise I will find you again in the next life.”_

_“How will I know you?”_

_“Because you love me. Right?”_

_“Always.”_

_“That is a long time, too.”_

_“It is.”_

Lee and his promises. His stupid, heartfelt promises. 

“You never should have loved me,” Gaara whispered to the tiny stone that was all he had of Lee. 

_“Loving you was the greatest joy of my life.”_

_“Shut up. They’ll be here soon.”_

_“It is all right. I do not mind.”_

_“Shut up! You can’t–you can’t die, Lee. I won’t let you! You promised me forever! You promised!”_

_“I should have promised… to never make you cry.”_

_“Don’t–don’t go. Please.”_

_“I promise… next time. Next time.”_

Promise. 

Gaara hated that word and he hated Lee more for always being so stubbornly romantic and true. That word had taken everything from him. All he had left now were memories and promises he’d never see come true. 

“Promise me,” Gaara whispered to the stone, choking on the words. “Promise me you’ll come back.”


End file.
